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Issue 98
Pistorius cleared of murder
roundtownnews.com
12-18 3-9sept Jan 2014
By Jack Troughton ATHLETE OSCAR Pistorius sobbed yesterday (Thursday) as he was cleared of the murder of his girlfriend – or an imagined intruder – at his South African home on Valentine’s Day last year. At Pretoria High Court, Judge Thokozile Masipa cleared the 27year-old Olympic and Paralympic track star of all murder charges saying the prosecution had failed to prove he intended to kill model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp in a case entirely built on circumstantial evidence. Pistorius, who would have faced a minimum of 25 years behind bars for premeditated murder, still faces a verdict on a charge of culpable homicide – manslaughter – which carries a sentence of up to 15 years. The judge, who described the defendant as a “very poor” and “evasive” witness, said the state had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt he was guilty of murder. The athlete maintains he shot his lover in the mistaken belief she was an intruder hiding in a toilet cubicle.
A busy summer in San Pedro by Keith Nicol
The fantastic garden party
Lions host garden party
THE MAZARRÓN Bahiá Lions are happy to report that the children’s play area on Camposol ‘B’ behind the Cultural Centre is now being allowed to progress. Read the full story on page 48.
THE CITY of San Pedro del Pinatar increased its tourism services this summer with guided tours and activities on the beaches such as Tai Chi, Pilates and physiotherapy. The Centre for Tourism Initiatives in San Pedro and the Tourist Information Point located in Villananitos witnessed a bumper tourist season for the three summer months of June, July and August for a total of 6,623 visits, 9.34% more than in the same period 2013. July saw the highest number of arrivals at these tourist information centres with 3,181 visitors, followed by August with 2,932, and 510 in June. This year San Pedro also had ‘Q’ for quality Blue Flags on the beaches of La Puntica and Villananitos thus endorsing that they meet stringent environmental standards and services.
One of the major developments this year has been the empowerment zone on Villananitos offering free internet access, thus becoming the first beach with Wifi in the Region. The Department of Tourism has also coordinated various activities on the beach, to help improve the health and leisure offers to bathers. A total of 3,379 participants joined in the fun during July and August. This program included physiotherapy at Sea, on the beach of La Mota, which has had 1,850 participants; Pilates in El Mojon and Villanaitos, with 860 people; and Tai Chi on La Mota and El Mojon, where a total of 669 participants slowly stretched and moved during July and August. Hotels in San Pedro del Pinatar offer 1,411 beds with an average occupancy rate this quarter of 66.26 percent. The most favourable data was recorded in August, at 79%, occupancy with July at around 64.4% and 55.13% in June.